Green Options

Is the U.S. Interior Department wrongly withholding information that will reveal whether taxpayers are being ripped off in a controversial oil and gas royalty program? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) see to think so, according to a lawsuit they filed today. Interior claims that disclosure of bidding and contracting information about its Royalty-In-Kind (RIK) sales would reveal oil company trade secrets.

In an unusual move for an administration that cares little for endangered species, the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed adding 48 species found only in Hawaii to the federal endangered species list this week.  The administration claimed to be using a “newly developed, ecosystem-based approach to species conservation,” even though the Clinton administration used such an approach.  In related news, the Center for [...]

A major investigation of the Department of Interior has uncovered “a culture of ethical failure.” Over a dozen current and former employees are alleged to have violated policies including drug use, sexual relations between federal employees and oil company employees, rigging oil contracts, working part-time as oil consultants, and accepting gifts like golf and ski trips.